The Mets have done four historically remarkable things on offense within the last few weeks that deserve some context in team history.
April 29: Mets score a team-record 12 runs in one inning
This was only the fifth time in team history that the Amazins scored 10 runs or more in an inning. The first time was June 12, 1979 when the Mets scored 10 runs in the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Shea. The inning was capped off by a three-run inside-the-park home run by Doug Flynn, sparking a 12-6 victory.
The Mets famously scored 10 runs in the eighth inning in a come-from-behind 11-8 win over the Atlanta Braves at Shea on June 30, 2000. The scoring in that inning was finished by Mike Piazza’s three-run homer off Terry Mulholland.
The previous team record for most runs in an inning had been the 11 runs scored in the sixth inning at Wrigley Field on July 16, 2006 in a 13-7 win over the Cubs. Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran hit grand slams in the inning, and David Wright added a solo shot.
Finally, the Mets scored 10 runs last year on May 16 in the fourth inning of a 14-1 victory against the Brewers at Citi Field. Wilmer Flores had the big blow of the inning with a grand slam.
May 2: Mets hit three home runs in the first inning against the Braves
When Wright, Yoenis Cespedes, and Lucas Duda pulled off this feat, it was only the fourth time in team history it had been done. The first time was August 15, 1985 on an extremely hot Thursday afternoon at Shea. Tom Paciorek, Gary Carter, and Ray Knight all homered off Jerry Koosman in the first inning of a game the Mets eventually won 10-7.
On June 15, 1999, Rickey Henderson, John Olerud, and Piazza all went deep off Brett Tomko in the first in Cincinnati in an 11-3 win.
Finally, Beltran, Wright, and Floyd hit first-inning dingers off Livan Hernandez of the Nationals on April 13, 2006 in a 13-4 New York win.
May 7: Bartolo Colon hits a home run
At nearly 43 years of age, Bartolo became the oldest player in major league history to hit his first career home run, breaking the age record set by Randy Johnson in 2003 by nearly three years. Colon adds his name to this list of Mets home runs hit by pitchers. The oldest person on this list was Steve Trachsel, who homered at age 35 on June 20, 2006 against the Reds. The only other players in Mets history to hit home runs at age 42 or older were Willie Mays and Julio Franco. Franco hit his last home run at age 48 on May 4, 2007 at Arizona off Randy Johnson. Mays hit the last 14 of his 660 career home runs for the Mets, the final one coming on August 17, 1973 at Shea against Cincinnati’s Don Gullett.
May 11: Noah Syndergaard hits two home runs and drives in four runs
Colon upped the ante on pitchers hitting home runs, and Noah Syndergaard met the challenge by hitting two home runs in a 4-3 victory over the Dodgers. He became just the second Mets pitcher to hit two home runs in one game, joining Walt Terrell, who did it on August 6, 1983 at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.